The Garden of Eden has vanished, they sayBut I know the lie of it still;Just turn to the left at the bridge of FineaAnd stop when halfway to Cootehill.'Tis there I will find it,I know sure enoughWhen fortune has come to me call,Oh the grass it is green around BallyjamesduffAnd the blue sky is over it all.And tones that are tender and tones that are gruffAre whispering over the sea,"Come back, Paddy Reilly to BallyjamesduffCome home, Paddy Reilly, to me".

My mother once told me that when I was bornThe day that I first saw the light,I looked down the street on that very first mornAnd gave a great crow of delight.Now most newborn babies appear in a huff,And start with a sorrowful squall,But I knew I was born in BallyjamesduffAnd that's why I smiled on them all.The baby's a man, now he's toil-worn and toughStill, whispers come over the sea,"Come back, Paddy Reilly to BallyjamesduffCome home, Paddy Reilly, to me".

The night that we danced by the light of the moon,Wid Phil to the fore wid his flute,When Phil threw his lip over "Come Again Soon",He's dance the foot out o' yer boot!The day that I took long Magee by the scruffFor slanderin' Rosie Kilrain,Then, marchin' him straight out of Ballyjamesduff,Assisted him into a drain.Oh, sweet are the dreams, as the dudeen I puff,Of whisperings over the sea,"Come back, Paddy Reilly to BallyjamesduffCome home, Paddy Reilly, to me".

I've loved the young women of every land,That always came easy to me;Just barrin' the belles of the Black-a-moor brandAnd the chocolate shapes of Feegee.But that sort of love is a moonshiny stuff,And never will addle me brain,For the bells will be ringin' in BallyjamesduffFor me and me Rosie Kilrain!And through all their glamour, their gas and their guffA whisper comes over the sea,"Come back, Paddy Reilly to BallyjamesduffCome home, Paddy Reilly, to me".

Encore verse

I've struck oil at last!I've struck work, and I vowI've struck some remarkable clothes,I've struck a policeman for sayin' that now,I'd go back to my beautiful Rose.The belles they may blarney,the boys they may bluffBut this I will always maintain,No place in the world like BallyjamesduffNo guril (sic) like Rosie Kilrain.I've paid for my passage, the sea may be roughBut borne on each breeze there will be,"Come back, Paddy Reilly to BallyjamesduffCome home, Paddy Reilly, to me".